Judge to decide if Smerdon innocent or negligent in Oliver bet scandal

THE Robert Smerdon case will be determined by the more likely of two hypotheses, Judge Brian Forrest said after two hours of evidence yesterday.

The first, as put forward by Smerdon's legal counsel, is that Smerdon is an innocent go-between.

That he is an old-school trainer (a private person, as Smerdon described himself yesterday) who asks no questions but helps out mates, which he did in handing Damien Oliver a "wad" of cash back in 2010.

Oliver was having major problems at home. Smerdon was not the sort of mate to pry into home affairs (which he didn't) let alone pry into the delivery of a few bucks. In racing, cash exchanges are common.

The second hypothesis, as put forward by Dr Cliff Pannam QC, for Racing Victoria stewards, is that by not asking, Smerdon is answerable.

Pannam said it was hard to imagine Smerdon did not know Mark Hunter, a mate and client of 20 years, was a big-time punter and that Smerdon would not have had a fair inkling about the history of the wad he had kept in his drawer.

The QC seemed to scoff at Smerdon's claim he thought the money might have been for a loan that Oliver, a famously wealthy jockey, would snip a punter for a few grand. Pannam suggested that, in handing money from punter to jockey, Smerdon had accepted a role in something (i.e. a jockey betting) that might be suspicious.

That, Pannam insisted, was enough for the trainer to be pinned for bringing the sport into some disrepute; that he should have acted with diligence, but didn't. Pannam insisted Smerdon had to be held to account for bad press that followed news of his courier role and for damning public perception of the whole episode.

He said the public would think it was "red hot".

David Grace, for Smerdon, scoffed back that Oliver, not Smerdon, was responsible for the bad press, that all Smerdon did was give a mate some cash from another mate.

Grace said the public might think Smerdon was a "dope" and "foolish", but not "blameworthy".

The Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board will hand down its judgment some time next week.